Soundtrack Review: King Kong

By Douglas Strassler Dec 21, 2005, 11:24 GMT

James Newton Howard reportedly got the King Kong gig as a last-minute replacement for Howard Shore (who of course had worked on King Kong director Peter Jackson\'s Lord of the Rings series). The good news is that Howard still managed to write an honorable score; the bad news is that it\'s no more than honorable. For some, the biggest disappointment may be that Howard didn\'t find more inspiration in the ...more

It was a bold move for Peter Jackson, lord of the 'Lord of the Rings' trilogy, to update the classic 'King Kong'. However, the three-hour plus spectacle, while not really offering anything new to the story besides dazzling state-of-the-art effects, is quite the success.  So is James Newton Howard’s score.

His music supports nearly the entire film (especially impressive, because Howard purportedly came into the film late and only had five weeks to score it).  Some of his music lifts off of the original theme work from the 1933 RKO original movie.  This is not only a long score, but quite an eclectic one, and represents the period of the time (though updated, this film is also set during the Depression).

Two big tracks include “A Fateful Meeting” and “Defeat is Always Momentary,” as Carl Denham, the filmmaker portrayed by Jack Black sweet-talks struggling actress Ann Darrow (Naomi Watts) into starring in his mysterious movie.  Denham, though, is a manipulator, and the tracks with him in it are not nearly as tender as Howard’s tracks between Ann and writer Jack Driscoll (Adrien Brody), including “It’s in the Subtext.”  Eventually, as Ann comes to an odd understanding with her apelike captor, they too share a peaceful moment during “Beautiful.”

Howard can also ratchet up the suspense, which he does when the crew arrives at Skull Island.  This includes tracks like “Something Monstrous…Neither Beast Nor Man” and “Head Towards the Animals,” which makes nice use of brass instrumentation.  “Tooth and Claw” also uses brass to herald King Kong’s theme, which Howard reprises later on during the film’s climax in “The Empire State Building.”  “Beauty Killed the Beast” takes up most of the end of Jackson’s film, with alternately ebbing and flowing bouts of excitement and calm.  As King Kong meets his destiny, Ben Inman sings an elegiac song that feels almost like a hymn to Kong, and endears the audience to him more than the many humans that try and use him for profit.

Howard’s score truly has it all – heavy orchestration, pulse-pounding brass, as well as quieter moments.  This is a case where the music is truly its own important character in the movie.

The soundtrack is out now and available via Amazon or Amazon UK.

View a full track listing.